Unmasked
by rainbotic
Summary: Karen is desperate to prove to Ruby that her guardian angel is real… and not who Ruby suspects he is. When she finds out what has been kept from her for so long, her life seems to change completely.


**Author's Note:** This is sort of my first real South Park fanfiction ever, uh. There are two parts to this story so, the last part will be uploaded once I finish which should be soon! Enjoy!

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><p>Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock.<p>

Chapped lips parted as brown eyes glanced up to the rusty clock on the wall. It was already twenty past nine and Karen sat patiently in her living room for her brother to come home. He had promised that he'd walk the two of them over to the Tuckers' residence so she'd be able to spend time with Ruby, her close friend, (though Ruby often didn't call them 'close') and it gave Kenny an excuse to do whatever it is that he usually did with Craig. Although Karen was 14 years old, she was still very pure, naïve, and reserved. She depended on her older brother for everything and he was always making sure she made the right choices since he himself didn't when he was her age.

The brunette looked down at the stained brown carpet under her and let out a quiet sigh- but just in time. The front door swung open and in stepped that tall, familiar blond boy covered in orange.

"Kenny!" The young teen yelped out as she immediately hopped to her feet, rushing forward to wrap her arms tight around her brother. Kenny didn't let a moment pass before doing the same, holding his little sister in a tight embrace. "I'm sorry I'm late, Kare. I, uh, was at Kyle's playing video games and we lost track of time…" He lied. He always lied. The strong scent of smoke lingered on his clothes, badly covered up by the scent of his Jewish friend's Axe body spray.

The smaller one simply smiled wide, her gapped teeth showing now as she shrugged her shoulders gently. Her face nuzzled into Kenny's chest as she let out a quiet sigh of relief, "As long as you're here now, that's all that matters..."

They stood there for at least another minute hugging before Kenny finally pulled away. He was disappointed in himself for always having to bend the truth in order to protect Karen, but he knew it was the only way. "You want to get going? Got all your things?"

"Yep! I've been ready since 8:30... Hah."

Kenny could only frown as his hand ruffled through Karen's wavy hair, "I really am sorry…"

"I said don't worry! Let's just go before it gets any later." She flashed him a toothy grin before grabbing onto the sleeve of his parka and dragging him back out the door. Kenny held tight to his backpack, quickly hiding the small green question mark popping out from the opening in the front pocket.

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><p>"Kenny being an hour late to get home isn't an excuse, Karen." The slightly nasally female voice spoke out loudly. Ruby's shoulder length orange hair moved back and forth as the young teen nearly pulled her friend with full force towards her bedroom.<p>

Karen's bottom lip quivered but she simply nodded and mumbled out an, "Okay. Sorry…"

"Stop apologizing! You sound stupid when you do that."

Ruby didn't like to think of herself as a "mini Craig". Most of her teachers at school called her that. First of all, Craig had detention at least twice a week. Ruby on the other hand? Too good to get caught. Sure, she flipped people off, and sure, she had a nasally voice like the rest of her family… but being compared to her dumb older brother? Not cool.

The taller girl shoved Karen into her bedroom before closing the door. The brunette only took the abuse as a loving gesture and stumbled over to Ruby's full sized bed, kicking off her ripped mary janes in order to plop comfortably on it. "I have another update on my guardian angel…" She suddenly blurted, her cheeks turning a light shade of red as she mentioned the hero.

"You're so dumb." Ruby insulted, rolling her eyes as she followed Karen over to the bed, sitting beside her. She pulled her knees towards her chest, hugging them close as the 'oh-so-adoring' expression on the other's face made her sick.

Karen ignored Ruby's comment as she spoke again, "He heard about how you took the two bucks my brother had given me for lunch this week and told me to stop hanging out with you…" She suddenly looked down towards the other's carpeted floor, her tongue tracing her gapped teeth nervously.. To her surprise though, Ruby didn't punch her in response. She simply shrugged her shoulders and looked towards the window. "Good thing he doesn't exist then."

"What? He does so!" The girl in green suddenly became defensive as she moved closer, her cheeks puffed as her face turned red. Even in a state such as that, the slightly older girl could not take her friend seriously. "You're so defensive over the idea of this so called 'angel' when no one else has ever even seen him. Sounds to me like you're crushing on an imaginary friend, princess." The nickname stuck ever since first grade when Karen was never seen without her purple princess doll. It wasn't until 7th grade that she finally stopped bringing the old thing to school.

Karen let out an unpleasant noise now as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her gaze moved down to the carpet once again, a whisper falling from her lips, "He's not imaginary… I know he's not… and I'll prove it to you, too!" An idea sparked in the brunette's mind as she quickly glanced back up at Ruby, "The next time he visits, I'll ask him to kiss me! That'll prove he's not fake, right?"

Just the thought made Ruby grumble unhappily, her front teeth chewing on her bottom lip as she rolled her eyes, "It'll just put the pervert in jail if he's real, that's what it'll do." The thought actually made her chuckle which was an extremely rare occurrence.

"Oh stop it, Rubes. He isn't a pervert. He has protected me so many times for as long as I could remember… We're probably destined to be together…"

"So you're content with losing your first kiss v-card to some masked weirdo in an ugly cape?"

"His cape is **not **ugly!" Of course Karen realized she _was_ getting defensive, but she honestly couldn't help herself. Mysterion (Kenny had told her numerous times was his name) had said to her that it was his duty in life to make sure nothing bad ever happened to her… That had to mean something, right? "… and I'd rather have my first kiss with him than with someone in school who could easily hurt me a moment afterwards!"

A hand pushed through Ruby's messy orange hair. It was down tonight, which was unusual considering most nights she had it up in a ponytail, "Why would you even think that would happen? Not all middle schoolers are dicks, you know…"

"Because… Kenny told me so."

Karen's hands met Ruby's knees now in some sort of attempt to tell her 'I know you aren't one of them' … but almost immediately, the other's hands were pushing her away, "And you listen to everything your brother tells you?"

"Of course! He knows what's best for me… and he'd never lie to me."

Ruby's expression suddenly stiffened as she stared at Karen. The silence was completely awkward as their eyes met, brown to green… and it was broken by a nasally retort, "Ten bucks says your brother is Mysterifag.'

Karen's expression couldn't have possibly gotten any more horrified. She was speechless, a million scenarios playing in her head. The way her guardian angel had carried her, held her, spoke to her- …. Sure it could have _**seemed**_ brotherly, but... No. No, there was no way. "That's absolutely ridiculous. Kenny is _not_ Mysterion."

"Right. Yup. You sit here and ponder that while I go take a leak." Ruby couldn't help but roll her eyes again as she stood up off the bed, leaving Karen with a flip of the bird before heading to the bathroom.

Kenny… Mysterion? No… Kenny would never hide something that huge from her for that long. He would never ever even lie to her. Those brown eyes of hers stared desperately at the floor, searching for answers, but were unable to come up with a conclusion-

There was a huge thump at the window behind Karen and as she glanced up at the mirror in front of her, she saw who she had been longing to see for answers. "Guardian angel!" She called out, turning now to face the masked boy sitting at the window.

He flashed a smile at her as he helped himself inside, sitting against the wall under the same window. The green question mark atop his cape bounced as he plopped down. When he spoke, his words were quiet and husky.

"I could have sworn I heard you talking about boys...and kissing." The superhero seemed to be frowning now, his hand reaching forward to pet the top of Karen's head. "You aren't going around kissing strange boys, are you?"

"No!" Karen replied loudly without a hesitation, "I wouldn't do that… I couldn't. There's only one boy who I'd ever let kiss me, and he isn't a _'strange boy'_, so…" By this point, Mysterion had moved himself closer to her out of complete concern and interest. "Who is it? Are they clean? Have they ever kissed someone that you know of?"

This was it. The perfect moment. Karen knew she had to take it… to prove to Ruby, to prove to herself that her guardian angel wasn't a figment of her imagination… that Mysterion was **NOT** her brother… "You tell me." She reached her hands forward on either side of Mysterion's face and leaned in to kiss him-

The hero let out a grunt as he freaked out, pushing the younger girl back before their lips could meet, "Woah, back up, Karen! This is inappropriate!" …but she didn't. She just tried again, mumbling words like, "please" and "I need this"-

"I SAID STOP, KARE."

His voice.

…._That voice_.

It was higher pitched. It was scratchy. It sounded an awful lot like-

He pulled away fast and without another word, was out the window and gone into the night. Karen sat silently on the bed now. Her hands were at her still kissless lips… her heart was pounded harder than ever as her stomach churned with the most disgusting feeling she had ever felt before in her life.

"It couldn't have been…" She whispered to herself, hearing the creaking of the bedroom door opening behind her. Her eyes stared out the window into the darkness of the night where her angel had disappeared. She couldn't even hear the sound of her name being called by her friend just behind her.

**END PART 1**


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